“The Fish Net”

Pentecost2019

Dear Friends,

It was a fascinating sight. We were at Sauble Beach and had made our usual walk down to the beach to watch the sunset. As we stood there, a flock of Canada Geese paddled by parallel to the beach. There were about thirty-five of them and the flock was composed of both adults and young ones. The flock came ashore just down from us and proceeded to cross the beach heading for the dunes where they clearly intended to settle down for the night.

What I found so interesting was the behaviour of one goose in particular. Whether in the water or on land he followed the rest but at a distance; indeed I wondered at first if he was even a part of the flock. Now contrary to what we might think, he was not an outcast or social pariah. He was clearly on guard, his head constantly swivelling around as he watched the other birds and scanned the area for any potential threats. As I watched him standing on the beach with his neck straight up looking here and there I wondered; what would happen if anyone were foolish enough to get too close? I certainly had no intentions of finding out!

As I thought about this, it occurred to me that in some ways, this is a parallel between us and our relationship with God. As we “paddle” or “waddle” our way through life, are we always aware of the One who is with us yet apart from us, the One who is on guard and ceaselessly watching? One of the great promises of the Bible is that God is always watching over us. In the tremendous words of a great psalm of faith:

“He will not let your foot slip –
He who watches over you will not slumber;
Indeed, He who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord watches over you.”
(NIV Psalm 121:3-5a)

We may sometimes be completely oblivious of God but He is never oblivious of us and it is this that sets us free to journey through life confidently with neither dread nor fear.